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I snap out of my reverie and push his hand away, glaring at him. "Of course I am mad. This is my freaking life, not a game. I’m going to lose the bookstore. I’m going to lose the place where I live. And also, more than that, I might lose Hope House. I know that you’re richer than God and have rich people problems. But I am a normal person with normal things to worry about. Real things, not silly Morgan family politics."
Dare looks away, pressing his lips into a tight white line. For a second, I watch him, my heart beginning to pound. What is he thinking?
I can't even begin to guess.
He looks back at me, his remarkable eyes spearing me. "What if I offered you ten thousand for a taped confession?"
I blink. "Ten thousand? Just like that? No other strings attached?"
Dare must have a soft underbelly if he is willing to pay me more just because I complained and cried poverty.
Ten grand. That gets my attention. Ten grand is serious money.
He shrugs. "I think we should talk about it more somewhere that isn’t icy cold."
Placing my hands on his chest, I separate myself from his body. He lets me go, and I gesture back down the street toward the bookstore. "We can head back to the bookstore. It’s closed right now, but it’s warm, and there is an office where we can talk."
Some emotion lights his eyes—something dark and needy. He straightens his lapels on his heavy overcoat and nods to me. "Lead the way."
I turn and pull my keys from my pocket, allowing us to enter the bookstore. After he walks in, I lock the door behind him and head straight to the back, bypassing all the books. I can see him looking around, taking in the jumble that is our store. Part of me is embarrassed that I didn't impose more order on everything.
Aunt Minnie has her way of doing things, though.
I walk down a small hallway and open the last door on the right, flipping on the lights in a small, windowless office. My office is possibly the opposite of the bookstore itself. Here, I have instituted precise order over the shelves of books. On the wall, there is a large family tree with research notes in my scrawled handwriting, and below it, an array of photocopied journals and printed headshot style photos. Along the wall, in neat cardboard cartons that are indexed and full of sticky notes, there is more research about my family in particular.
I move behind a small desk, offering him the chair opposite. He doesn’t take it. Instead, he walks to the wall and examines my family tree, his finger tracing the roots. "Is this your family?"
I inhale a deep breath. "Yes," I say. For some reason, my voice sounds pinched. "My family was one of the founding families of this town."
Dare glances back at me, a little surprised. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
He roughly rips a piece of paper from the wall, ignoring the thumbtack that is holding it in place and shredding the paper. He brings it closer to his face and I clear my throat, getting up and pulling the paper from his fingers. I gave him a hard stare and replaced the thumbtack, then returned to my desk.
"If you don’t mind. I would like to get this over with." I wave my hand at the chair again.
He raises his hands as if I am the one overreacting. But he eventually makes his way over to the chair and sits down.
"Whose office is this?" he asks.
"It’s mine. Obviously." I gesture at the wall.
"It’s very… Neatly kept."
"You should see my bedroom. Tidy and neat as a pin."
He smirks, making my fingers itch to slap his smug expression off his face. "Is that an invitation?"
I heave a disgusted sigh and shake my head. "You’re definitely not coming anywhere near my bedroom, not if I have any say over the matter."
His eyes twinkle for a moment with dark amusement. "We’ll see about that."
I huff at his words. "That’s a ridiculous thing to say." I adjust my skirt and cross my legs, feeling prim. "Now, about the ten thousand dollars."
He leans forward in his seat, steepling his fingers and looking contemplative. "Yes. I’m thinking that I could pay you five thousand like we talked about to get the story on tape. Then for the other five thousand, I would pay you to actually come with me and confront my brother."
I pale, my heart rate rising suddenly. "What? No. I can’t do that."
